1) What does the term 'Cultural Industries' actually refer to?
The creation, production and the distribution of products of a cultural or artistic nature.
2) What does Hesmondhalgh identify regarding the societies in which the cultural industries are highly profitable?
As they are a very highbrow property, the cultural industries are very knowledge based, it requires a lot of people involved in the product, which creates employment and wealth.
3) Why do some media products offer ideologies that challenge capitalism or inequalities in society?
Companies in the cultural industry challenge these views as they need to compete with other companies to secure audience members, so compete to satisfy their audience's needs.
4) Look at page 2 of the factsheet. What are the problems that Hesmondhalgh identifies with regards to the cultural industries?
- It is a risky business
- Problems with Creativity vs Commerce
- The high production costs and the low reproduction costs
- Semi-public goods
As audiences use the cultural commodities in changeable and varied ways to express that they are unique. There is also limited supply but the need of creating something original and unique. It is a very profitable industry but is risky as there are difficulties and obstacles which could prevent you from reaching high levels.
6) What is your opinion on the creativity v commerce debate? Should the media be all about profit or are media products a form of artistic expression that play an important role in society?
I believe that all media should be balanced with profit and art as media products should reflect and have artistic qualities and should be sold for their aesthetics, however, in order for a company to be successful and produce more products they need to gain profit, therefore need to sell their products at reasonable prices.
7) How do cultural industry companies minimise their risks and maximise their profits? (Clue: your work on Industries - Ownership and control will help here)
Companies will buy other companies (and become conglomerates) in their own field but in different levels, so production and distribution (vertical integration) and also buy companies in completely different fields of media (horizontal integration). This helps them further establish them in further media fields and get a larger target audience, which results in them maximising their profit.
8) Do you agree that the way the cultural industries operate reflects the inequalities and injustices of wider society? Should the content creators, the creative minds behind media products, be better rewarded for their work?
I agree that the cultural industries do reflect inequality as the producers/artists do not get fairly rewarded for all their hard work, whereas the distributors take most of the sum. I do believe that the distributers should get a bit of profit, but most should go to the producers.
9) Listen and read the transcript to the opening 9 minutes of the Freakonomics podcast - No Hollywood Ending for the Visual-Effects Industry. Why has the visual effects industry suffered despite the huge budgets for most Hollywood movies?
Visual effects require a lot of money to produce the effects, however, Hollywood doesn't pay the visual effects companies enough money to survive.
10) What is commodification?
The process in which ideas, objects and people are transformed into objects for sale and monetary gain.
11) Do you agree with the argument that while there are a huge number of media texts created, they fail to reflect the diversity of people or opinion in wider society?
I disagree as most media products produced reflect a wide range of opinions and diversity of different people. It also provides the target audience with what they want.
12) How does Hesmondhalgh suggest the cultural industries have changed? Identify the three most significant developments and explain why you think they are the most important.
- Work has become more organised and professional in manner
- Employ more staff directly
- New technologies development
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